As Australia and New Zealand relax COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, organisations need to reassess their technology operations, take stock of the lessons learnt throughout lockdown and put their business in the best possible position to thrive in a brave new world.

Compared to the rest of the world, Australia and New Zealand are faring well in their respective battles against the COVID-19 pandemic.

As both nations turn to introducing a Trans-Tasman border 'bubble', organisations should now reassess their technology operating model. This means taking stock of the lessons learnt throughout lockdown to ensure their business is best placed to thrive in this brave new world.

This article summarises the key insights from a recent webinar in which our expert panel tackled relevant tech topics for the post-COVID-19 world. Speakers included technology consultants from MinterEllison Technology Consulting (formerly ITNewcom) and legal firm MinterEllisonRuddWatts. 

The role of Lean-Agile-Procurement in a post-COVID world

In a post-COVID world, Lean-Agile-Procurement (LAP), among other collaborative sourcing processes, will enable customers and suppliers to source and sell faster, more cost effectively and more efficiently, without losing any of the benefits of a robust, fully competitive procurement process.

Key attributes of a collaborative process like LAP include:

• A narrowly time-boxed planning and preparatory phase where the focus is on defining requirements, strong governance and a market scan to confirm potential respondents.
• The collaboration / interaction phase, conducted over 2-3 days, enables a highly competitive and transparent process, driving decision makers and key stakeholders to engage at the right time.
• Realtime feedback and evaluation enables requirements to be iterated and the right solutions to be selected (provided at the right price).
• Including legal and commercial processes in the same process timeline, reduces your timeframe to final contracts (and by extension, contract start) as well as the risk of process challenges.

When considering whether to outsource IT services to a provider, take into account:

• Does the supplier have an adequate business continuity plan?
• Review any current contract with the provider or check that any new contracts are suitable (particularly on security matters).
• Is there a need to carry out on-site or remote audits?
• Is the provider’s supply chain suitably robust?
• If using an offshore provider, consider potential challenges (e.g. if the country where the provider is based is still in lockdown).

Managing risks for rushed major IT projects

If you have rushed into a major IT project (or quick fix) to respond to COVID-19 without having time to fully consider the consequences, now is the time to take stock and understand what you have signed up for, what the risks are and if they need or can be mitigated. Consider:

• Reviewing any new contracts and, if you can, renegotiating them
• Understanding the consequences under existing contracts
• Checking your legal and regulatory requirements
• Checking any temporary solutions for IT vulnerabilities.

Managing IT as a business

There can be great benefits in managing IT as a business, provided that:

• There is transparency around IT spend (leveraging IT, finance and business data)
• Sustained executive sponsorship supports a cultural shift to accountability (by the business) for IT demand management. IT provides both the information needed to manage demand and solutions aligned to business value.

Preparing for business continuity plans

Now is the time to consider your business continuity stance and how you need to prepare, in particular:

• Understand your delivery ecosystem and revisit your business continuity and disaster recovery plan, viewed through a pandemic lens.
• Check whether there is sufficient diversity and resilience in your organisation's plans and in the plans of your key suppliers.
• Consider what is critical to the business, how it is delivered, what should be protected and how that should be done. This includes reviewing the supply chain to discover the capabilities and vulnerabilities within it and any possible alternatives.
• Are the requirements on your suppliers in your outsourcing contracts robust enough in these circumstances? Do you know enough about your suppliers' plans and capabilities? Do any particular standards need to be met? Have these been verified and tested over the term?
• Understand that business interruption insurance is unlikely to respond in a pandemic and plan accordingly.
• Look closely at whether single source or exclusive supply arrangements provide sufficient resilience. Consider sensible carve outs from exclusive supply arrangements.
• Revisit force majeure clauses in light of any business continuity and disaster recovery requirements in the context of the ongoing pandemic. Consider specifying how cost burdens will be shared.
• Identify your suppliers’ vulnerabilities.

Consider whether you are now subject to IT obligations that have been rendered unnecessary or unachievable, such as:

• extra licences obtained for periods of more restricted lockdown measures that you no longer need or
• minimum volume commitments that you cannot meet due to reduced activity during lockdown.

Role of emerging technology if tighter restrictions are re-introduced

Australia and New Zealand may need to revert to tighter lockdown measures so it is important to understand how emerging technology could help your business to survive (and possibly thrive) if tighter restrictions are re-introduced. Consider:

• Autonomous solutions like drones, robotic delivery, robotic process automation for supply chain logistics and warehousing
• Applications with AI for on-site people management
• Augmented reality and virtual reality solutions to engage off shore resources on shore.